buzz live. >> mike, what is going on with news week? >> i don't know. honestly they don't tell me anything. i will be in boston for christmas. if you will be there send me a message. we can go drinking. it is depressing. >> tom, what kind of gigs ? >> rehab first and then i don't know i am doing the america's got talent tour in vegas. and then the miramar cultural art center in florida. >> excellent. >> merry christmas, everyone. back to you, greg. >> shut up. >> shut up. >> he does president care about christmas. he doesn't care about christmas. >> au tonight. >> we'll get yourr son out of there one way or the other. we promise that mr. and mrs. hammar. >> laura: corporal john hammar

home for christmas after relentless campaign by the factor, the family of the u.s. marine held captive in a filthy mexican prison on a trumped up charge says they will all get to spend the holiday together. >> at some point we're going to have to address the spending problem that we have. but we can't cut our way to prosperity. we need real economic growth. how we get there, god only knows. >> laura: chaos in the g.o.p. as speaker john boehner fails to sell his colleagues on his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. so what now? >> rather than face her own moral failings the media demonized lawful gun owners, amplify their cries for more laws and fill the national media with misinformation and dishonest thinking. >> and the nra breaks its silence for the first time since the massacre in newtown, connecticut. and blasts the media for glorifying violence. caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone, the factor begins right now.

>> hi, everyone, i'm laura ingraham in for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. just days before christmas. we begin with the best possible news. 27-year-old corporal john hammar, a former marine, who has been locked up in a mexican prison on a trumped up charge since august looking forward to spending christmas as a free man. a mexican judge ordered his release this morning after the factor launched a campaign for justifiable. hammar was arrested in matamoros mexico. he was following directions by declaring the gun to it mexican authorities. bill o'reilly who has been aggressively pursuing justifiable for this young marine joins us now by telephone and bill this was great news. i knew you would want to come on to discuss it given your

role and making sure everyone knew about this and the pressure was on. what's your reaction? >> well, i think that this shows the power of the fox news channel. not just the factor. you know, a lot of us here thought that this story had to become front and center. yet did it. hannity, me, we did it in the day hours with maccallum and hemmer and megyn kelly. we all banned together and we basically said this could not stand. this could not stand. so, i'm real proud of the network and i want everybody to understand that that's what we're in business to do. all right? we are going to look out for individual americans and when bad things happen we're going to try to correct them. >> and, bill, what about your reaction to the rest of the media's coverage of all of this and the white house didn't realliment to talk much about this through the. but now obviously this is good

news. >> i think what we are going to do and i think this is the fair way to handle it, laura, after the corporal gets back to florida. we're going to do the political story and we're going to find out what happened and why it happened. let's wait until he gets back on american soil. as far as the media is concerned. cnn did a decent job. the network news a little bit, you know, cbs morning was the best of them. nbc didn't do much at all. and then the newspapers didn't do a lot. because it, again, there were questions about hillary clinton, questions about president obama, and they didn't want to do it. they don't want to get into anything that may make their guys look bad. and i say to myself i don't care about the politics. you know. i want this guy out and all of the media should have joined together in pursuit of that. >> and by contrast, bill, a lot of folks from our network and across political aisles were rooting for the nbc crew to be released in syria and

prayer chains and all sorts of stuff for ingle and his colleagues and they were released and that was great. i just think it's important that this type of pressure be across the board and not just by one network or certainly one host. and, bill, right now we have a factor exclusive. joining us now on the phone is olivia hammar. she is corporal hammar's mom. and, bill, what would you like to say to mrs. hammar? >> bill: first of all i think that mr. and mrs. hammar were very courageous. they came on to the media no spin, they answer ad the questions honestly and they helped their own cause immeasurablably. i'm just the messenger. and the message was delivered by the corporal's parents who obviously love him very much. and, you know, you can't let your son or daughter rot in a mexican prison. they didn't. they took action. they tried to go through the norm ma'am circles and the media. i wish had you done it earlier we would have had him out earlier.

did you it and told the truth and the american people responded. mrs. hammar, just tell us when the first i understand the call was last night on thursday had you did you know this was in motion to get your son out today? >> we had gotten the call late thursday night from the lawyer saying he had gotten the call that it was pretty much a done deal at that point then we were sort of waiting to find out it was a done deal to find out how they were going to rule but it wasn't necessarily -- we weren't sure about when he was going to be released. so we were sort of weighing for that. >> bill: this is a lawyer that you hired, right? >> in mexico city. >> bill: you have to pay this guy tens of thousands of dollars, right? >> right. >> bill: everybody should know what this is the reason the corporal was incarcerated in the first place was to get money from his family. that's unfortunately what's in play in some places. so, you learned last night that this was in motion then

all day today we have been dealing with the bureaucracy in mexico, right? >> right, exactly. >> bill: right now your husband is down on the border waiting for your son to be brought across by state department officials? >> exactly. the consulate is going to drive him across. >> bill: we don't know what time that's going to be though? >> no. he has been there for several hours. tim he got -- he did get a call from johnny, who called and said i'm being outprocessed right now. >> okay. so the mexicans are finally doing the right thing. the judge did the right thing. he signed the order. he said this case was bogus because it violated the mexican constitution which it did. the judge did the right thing. and now we just have to wait logistically until he crosses the border. now, a lot people would gee, you ought to fly him back but i understand that your son and your husband are going to drive back together? >> that's sort of plan that my husband has. but johnny is going to dictate how this is going to go. we thought maybe he might need a couple of days to decompress

just with some time with his dad and sort of a road trip home. if he wants to get on a plane which would be my preference, i would love for him to jump on a plane immediately. but we will see how that plays out. >> you are probably just going to relax for the next week or so, right? just try to -- i can't even imagine. we don't know what that feels like anymore. >> right. i mean, people ought to know that this horror has been going on since august. and you know, it's now late december. >> right. >> i can't imagine, again, i said in the top of my remarks that anybody's son or daughter. the parents are going to mobilize but all of this just is a cautionary tale for all americans that when you leave this country and go to any country you have got to be very careful. i thought the turning point in the case, mrs. hammar was when you came on the factor earlier this week and you both basically laid it on the line. not only about the crime being bogus but about our government not really kicking into gear

and then after that everything started to fall into place. >> absolutely. that's a shame of this is without that, i don't know that this would have happened. certainly not in this time frame. >> right. but, americans watching that show saw you and your husband on television and they rallied to your cause, too. there were thousands of calls made to politicians all across the country and pressure was put on every area and then all of a sudden things turned around and that's the way it is. >> right. it's unfortunate but that's the way it is. >> right. so we are happy we could help and we wish you and your husband and your son the very merriest of christmases and it will be. >> thank you so much and i cannot tell you how much we appreciate this coverage. it's saved his life. we really believe that. >> bill: that's what the fox news channel is here to do and we are happy to do it. merry christmas to you, mrs. hammar. >> you too. >> bill: laura as you said in the top of your remarks, at least we have a happy ending to a story and we will pick it

it up after january 2nd. we'll let everybody know what happened. perhaps we'll be able to talk to the corporal himself. >> fantastic, bill and mrs. hammar. thank you so much. we all needed some good news. next on the run down, the inside story of what went on behind the scenes to free corporal hammar. we're going to talk with one member of congress who worked tirelessly for his release. and later a civil war among republicans in congress as the fiscal cliff looms. so what happens next? moments away.

>> continuing now with top story this evening. today corporal john hammarar found out he is going to be spending christmas with his family rather of course alone in a mexican prison. hammar's family is from florida. several members of the florida congressional delegates including senators bill nelson and marco rubio helped lead

the fight to free the marine. but perhaps the most vocal of all of them was congresswoman ill anna ross layton who joins us now from miami with the inside story of how this all went down. congresswoman roth layton, it's so good to see you. >> thank you, laura. >> laura: beaten up in congress. approval rating is down. but now we see congress actually gets rules with the help of the factor of course and all of fox news. go ahead. tell us what happened. how did this all go down? >> well, absolutely fox news and o'reilly factor you guys saved his layoff. i mean literally, remember that as you said in the top of the program the parents tried to do it it the old fashioned way. john has been rotting in that jail since august. the parents did the right thick. they wanted to go through different channels. they hired lawyer after lawyer after lawyer. they had prayer services going here in our community. and they didn't contact us until just a few weeks ago.

as soon as they contacted us. boy constituent service is what i live for. we pounced on this story and thanks to you guys at fox, you were able to save his life. and who knew how this story was going to end up. the parents knew that they were taking a risk but so far their easy manner was not getting them results. so they said we have got nothing to lose. those first days of media attention for fox were really rough for john because the guards would rap on his cell and say hay gringo what are you doing? why is the press calling? thank you for everyone who worked for john. let me tell you, laura, the members of congress, we had over 70 members who signed a bipartisan letter to hillary clinton and janet knap demanding that they get active on this case because up till then, all we were hearing were status reports of john

shackled to his bed. this was shocking. >> congresswoman, why did that happen? bill is going to go into a lot more on this in the new year, but why did this happen? i mean, you know, the parents decided to wait to contact you. i mean, i would have been contacting everyone. but, look, there are people who did it their own way and i respect that what about the state department? it would seem that if you have an american marine, two tours of duty. suffering from ptsd, and this obviously was some trumped up deal. you know what happens with extortion down there. >> absolutely. >> why wasn't the administration on this or maybe they were behind the scenes and just didn't get anywhere. to me, it seems very strange. >> it is very odd. and we kept calling and we made all of the right inquiries about what are you doing and why aren't you stepping up to this case because the -- our embassy should be advocating for the release of americans who run justly detained. not just give a status report.

it took a lot of congressional pressure and it took a lot of media attention. fox, again, i'm telling you, you guys what you did john hammar that family is just so grateful. they are constituents of my congressional district. but what they have got happening there in mexico. it is an unruly place. we wish the new president pina niento he is going to reform the penal system and judicial system. those jails, many of them are run by the drug cartels. that's why the inmates, the fellow cell mates of john hammar were calling the parents in the middle of the night saying your gringo son is dead unless you pay up. just imagine what these parents have been going through. thank goodness that the people in the church were really holding them up and praying with them and making them strong but this is a react. this is a business that they have going on in mexico where they get citizens and then they try to extort money from

them. >> laura: congresswoman, i think a lot of folks watching right now weren't aware of the fact that between january of 2011 and last june there were 144 murders of americans in mexico. now, a lot of people still go on their vacation in mexico and have a great time. i'm not saying not to do that. i'm not talking about that but it is a dangerous place. you end up behind bars in mexico and this is, you know, mel gibson did a whole movie about this called gringo, as a matter of fact. i watched that and it sounds like what was playing out in this situation with corporal hammar and money. they want money, they want whatever they want. >> absolutely. and even to this day, when he is being processed out of the prison and we have the state department consulate affairs. custom and border parole. black suburbans ready to take them 15 to 20 miles to brownsville across the border. it has taken all day to process him out of jail. so they are very few checks

and balances there. and one has to be very weary about hey, look, this is a great country, there is no place like home. congresswoman thanks so much for all your work and we really appreciate you coming on. >> thanks so much. >> directly ahead, the republican party delivers crushing below to house leader john boehner failing to get behind his plan b tax deal. what happens now? we'll have a report. later the nra breaks its silence in the aftermath of that newtown shooting massacre going on the offense. blaming the media for how its covered the gun debate. those reports after these messages.

>> in the impact segment tonight, house speaker john boehner was forced to pull his budget bill from the house

floor last night due to lack of support from his own party. so is the g.o.p. in disarray and the senate democrats mm.i.a. will the fiscal democrats go over the cliff? from houston chris begala, also a g.o.p. strategist. chris, let's start with you. bottom line, would have you voted for boehner's plan b? >> oh, gee, the 1-million-dollar owners and i mean revenue producers if you make a million would you raise their taxes, the way it stood. no but if they had had meaningful spending cuts, yes. i mean, it doesn't make sense to raise anybody's taxes right now. but guess what, elections matter. president obama won. but we have got to get meaningful spending cuts. we are going to spend 3.8 trillion laura this year. we are going to bring in only 2.5 trillion. but out of the 2.5, every single penny is spent on the

debt and all the entitlements, medicare, medicaid, social security, so unless we are talking hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts, this discussion about tax increases is just foley. it is absolutely ridiculous. harry reid said that the boehner mr. was dead on arrival. it wasn't going to pass the senate anyway. so, boehner didn't get the support of his members, enough at least and it would have been a vote for not because the senator would have said thanks, no thanks. we are going to have the leverage and we will shove whatever you want down your throats whether you like it or not. the whole situation was kind of ridiculous in the beginning. >> instead of plan b it was sort of plan b.s. it was dead on arrival. it wasn't a bold plan. you need to from o'reilly factor bold plan with fresh faces. personally do i think we need to look at new leadership.

john boehner has done a fine job but we have to do some changes. we have to have changes. we have omake new face and we have to have different language. let's face it the last four years the team has been playing together. the folks have not been able to get along. nothing is happening in washington, d.c. it's gridlock. so we have got to change something. we tried to change the white house. we were not able to get that done unfortunately. so now we need to look at new leadership. kevin mccarthy, cathy mcmorris rogers. you know, we have got a good group of folks to pick from. i think john boehner's days are just done. it's not working. let's look at someone else. >> laura: chris, i had a well-placed conservative voice today on the hill, email me and said he is beginning to hear rumblings. i already gave something away. he. beginning to hear rumblings of a move to replace the speaker of the house. we're in the middle of this tussle with the democrats. more than a tussle. and is that the right time to put that out there and people are floating of paul

ryan to be house speaker. but ryan did support, i believe, plan b, did he not? >> yes. and, you know what, laura? you are always going to hear that type of rumblings. in the middle of this disaster, which is, you know, this discussion over nothing, basically, unless we get real spending cuts. you are going to hear speaker boehner should go. unless there is a massive movement afoot. massive. he will not be voted out. it is kind of like who is going to get out there on the cliff first, right? because you want those committee assignments. and if you go against the speaker and the speaker stays, you are going to be stripped of all those precious committee assignments where you get your power as a congressman or woman. so i don't think that's going to happen. >> going to get the goodies you are not going to do the right thing. >> that's right. >> bad washington situation and it's really shameful if that's what it is. look, nothing is going to get done if it's not happening. >> that's the way it is. >> we need new leadership. at least need new people at the table. this absolutely is not working. we need conservatives. i'm so tired of hearing people

blame the tea party because it's not their faulted. >> here what is i keep fighting. my twitter feed is going futures all day long. everyone tweeting they are so anxiety ridden and they are tuning this out. the tuning out the discussion on the fiscal cliff. coming from capitol hill because they are so disheartened by politics in america. they are very disheartened and they think look we should just stick to principles. we should do a reagan stick to our principles. let the chips fall where they may and then at least we will be able to have a principled platform from which to make the argument for real reform in government. >> that's what we should do. >> laura: go ahead. you can wrap up. >> a lot of people feel that way, laura. but the reality is that we have got these self-imposed penalties by congress on themselves. the far right conservatives don't want to raise taxes on virtually everyone. that's what's going to happen. the far left and the middle left doesn't want to have? i spending cuts. so they have given themselves

this pickle and now they have this ridiculous challenge of actually having to do something. >> laura: dee dee, do you know what i was thinking today? >> what, laura? bill. >> laura: it would have been nice if we had discussion of this during the campaign. would have been nice if we had mitt romney give a speech in december mitt romney would have been at this point. if he didn't get elected was going to go down this way. you hardly heard anything about the fiscal cliff during the campaign it was a great point for republicans. >> bold fresh leadership just like o'reilly factor bold and fresh. we need to hear that during the election. i hope people. >> laura: that would have be nice. >> congress doing the right thing would be good. >> laura: chris and dee dee thanks so much. plenty more ahead as the factor moves along tonight. fair and balanced reaction. plus obama nominates senator john kerry for secretary of state. but only after losing out on his first choice. was this a smart pick? and later the nra excoriates the media for their coverage of the connecticut school shooting. you do not want to miss this. stay tuned for these reports. nom

fact for follow up segment tonight late this afternoon the president came out to address the impending fiscal cliff scenario. once again he he made a case for raising taxes on the top 2%. jing us now to respond dick harr harr boot alan. the president came out late

afternoon inconveniencing the media which is the way it goes. he didn't say anything new. he said i'm an optimist and we should all take a break and let cooler heads prevail and people are suffering out there and they need more from washington. let me start by saying this. he still talks about washington as if he is not in washington. okay? my point on this is why is anyone going home or why is anyone taking much of a break until this thing is decided and agreed upon? your response. >> well, i think the president is facing a dysfunctional house of representatives. john boehner speaker of the house couldn't get his own plan passed this week. and i think he he is frustrated by the fact that he is dealing with a guy who can't deliver on any promises. on the senate side, the senate passed a bill last summer that would keep the bush tax cuts in place for everybody that makes $250,000 a year or less. it's been sitting over in the house. they could vote on it

tomorrow. boehner won't vote on it. >> laura: we could play that game all day long because republicans sent bill after bill to the senate, right? >> right. >> they have been sending bills back and forth. nothing happening on both sides. we could do that until we ring in the new year. legislation. there is a problem. we have a republican house of representatives. look, republicans have their problems for sure. but, that's the situation that the president has to deal with you can't just go like this and say okay, it's all going to be decided, right? he has actually got to put skin in the game, too. he has got to go to capitol hill. he could sit down with both parties. he he could -- or he could put the negotiations oon public for the public to see, right? he could be an active player in this. but he has hung back very long too. meanwhile harry reid said this is all doa. i'm not agreeing to this anyway even if they pass it both sides have dug their heels in, have they not? >> both sides have dug their heels. in i think the president is working very hard behind the scenes to try to make something happen. let's remember this.

in 2008, george bush needed a package passed that would rescue the economy. many republicans were not in favor of it in the house. it was a democratically controlled house. the democrats passed that because they understood the consequences of not passing it. folks decide no increase tax pledge better remember they took an oath to -- an oath that supersedes that to do their duty and defend the constitution of the united states. we have got people and it's on both sides, laura, i would agree. people on both sides being unreasonable and i believe and the president believes there are enough people in both parties that can come together in the middle. >> laura: here is what harry reid said though. we don't know what's going on behind closed doors for sure. you are right about that, dick. harry reid said on camera yesterday we are not taking up anything that they aren't working on over there. anything. that is one the more immature

things i have heard in recent days. and i have heard a lot of maim tour things. i have three small children. okay? that is so ridiculous from harry reid and even coming from him is so shocking. anything? he won't take up anything that comes from the house? let's go cliff diving. >> well, again, i think there is intransgeneral's on both sides. i think the president -- he is like you have got three kids. i think the president is like you. he is trying to get the kids to quit fighting in the backseat and while we are on the trip. is he trying to get them to come together. it is a congress that's been dysfunctional no matter who had the majority. he is trying to get -- trying to get them to come together. again, there is plenty of blame to go as the president just said this afternoon. plenty of blame on both sides. laura, at the end of the day, i think he believes that there is enough folks, reasonable folks in the middle to get a proposal passed. that proposal and the president has already said that he is willing to move in one direction if he will move in this direction. >> we need growth.

we need job growth in this country. spending is the problem. taxes i don't think so much. dick, have a merry christmas. great to see you. when we come right back, a major push back from the nra following the new town school massacre as the head of that group attacks the media. that report after these messages.

lawyer larr thanks for staying with us. i'm laura ingraham in for bill o'reilly. in the unresolved problem segment tonight, it's been now one week since 20-year-old adam lanza went on a shooting rampage that left 28 people dead including 20 little children. the massacre spawned a fierce debate over gun control. but the leading gun rights group, the nra has been largely silent until today. they came out swinging today against the media in a press conference which was occasionally interrupted by protesters. >> rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonized lawful gun owners, amplify their cries for more laws and fill the national media with misinformation and dishonest thinking. that only delays meaningful action and all but guarantee but the next atrocity is only a news cycle away. the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be

personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> laura: with us now to respond josh horowitz, he is the executive director of the coalition to stop gun violence. josh, good to see you, what's your reaction to what wayne lapierre said today. >> first i think it's great we are having this discussion. it's a discussion that's long overdo and really too bad it takes this type of tragedy to get this type of attention to the issue. that being said, i thought the nra was a little too late in addressing this issue. but also talking about this issue of school security guards, i think that's something that's done at the local level every day. i know in my school district i'm on the pta. we have our disaster plans. we do our live shooter drills. we have excellent relations. >> laura: i think it's a conversation, right? he is trying to exhort people

to think about it like you are. you all have different ideas and look, i'm probably more on nra side than your side on this. i think everybody gets into the conversation and offers opinions and without each side being demonized. there has been a lot of demonization. i think is he right about that a lot of people feel like we are on the receiving end of all the scrutiny and criticism and i'm a law abiding person. and people who own guns practice gun safety. she should be lauded not demonized. >> we wanted to have a conversation about what the american people have been talking to us about and have been talking to congress be about. which is things how do we get rid of assault weapons on the street. >> laura: tell the viewrsz what an assault weapon is. >> well, in this case it's a bush master rifle. carbine rifle. it's short barreled. it has detachable magazine. can take up to 100 round pag screen and has a pistol grip. allows you to keep on the target. very similar to what our troops carry in the battlefield and designed to kill people. unfortunately, that's exactly what it it did.

>> laura: most murders are not committed in the united states, you have the facts on that within assault style weapon. they look very scary and they do a lot of damage. but, in fact, most killers do not use assault weapons. and even mass killings, most of the time they are not assault weapons. people hear assault weapon they think it's fully automatic. it's a semiautomatic weapon with military style features. >> it's a pistol grip which makes makes it. >> laura: different types of features but that's one of the features. >> of course, look, most murders are done with handguns 38 revolver and a pistol. let's remember, the last mass shooting, the last three we have had have all had the same type of weapon ar 15 style weapon. >> laura: columbine not however. >> different type of weapon. aurora and port portland mall if you want to kill a lot of people they are effective. >> laura: what happened with the assault weapons ban 1994 to 2004. it did not have a measurable impact on the incidence of these type of mass shootings. is that not the case. >> oh no actually it really

did. mass shootings have been up since the expiration of the assault weapons ban. during the assault weapons ban the use of assault weapons in crime went down. definitely an effect. >> laura: it's a safe every country than it's been in the last many decades, we are safer today. violent crime is down across the board, is it not. >> sky lent crime is down. gun crime suspect. one of the reasons you don't sees a many murders as you did in the past is small amount. the reason it's held steady really is because our surgeons are better. in places where you see a the lo of shooting, what's happened is that we save more lives than the past. so the reason you get more people getting shot, a little less people getting killed. but, it is still, you know, we still have the -- the reason gun deaths overall are up. is because suicides are also a part of that equation. >> laura: i'm from connecticut. i'm a native of connecticut. you know, i'm a many no. i have children who are about the age of the children who

died. i have been so disturbed by this whole story on many levels. but, in connecticut about the fifth strictest gun control state in the country. i know that from all my years while living there. yet, this happened in connecticut. and, in fact, the restrictions on gun buying would not have applied to adam lanza because even if he had asperger he hes. that would have not have disqualified him from purchasing a gun in the state of connecticut. >> he wasn't 21 so he could not have bought the handgun. >> laura: except for the actual age. on the mental illness point, that would not have taken him out of the equation. >> we don't know all the facts yet but. >> laura: that's my point we don't know all the facts but we all ability like we do. >> to be prevented from purchase ago firearm you have to be civilly committed or declared a mental defective which i don't think that was the case. we are learning about that but it's interesting about the laws. i think connecticut does have an assault weapons ban but it's a week ban and bush master makes what they call

state compliant guns to slip under that ban. that's how his mother got one of those weapons. i think when we talk going back to what we need under federal law, we really need to have a comprehensive approach to assault weapons and also to background checks. there is no reason you should be able to go to a gun show or over the internet and buy a gun without a background check. >> laura: i think there is purple territory that people can agree on if people aren't demonizing each other in this debate. >> i hope so. >> laura: me too. >> laura: on deck, george soros funded group wants to legalize guns in this country and not just marijuana. wow. we are going to hear from the executive director of that organization right back. stay with us.

>> laura: in the personal story segment tonight, the george soros funded drug policy alliance took out this full page ad yesterday in the "new york times" and they argued for the legalization of drugs. they want to stop police from locking up heroin and cocaine users despite the public safety threat that the users pose. joining us now from new york is the executive director of the drug policy alliance ethan natleman. ethan, good to see you. i think a lot of people watching this okay maybe the cat is out of the bag with marijuana and states out west in colorado saying marijuana is not a criminal thing anymore. a lot of people having pot parties, dancing in the streets. but they think of heroin and they think of cocaine as something very different. heroin they think of someone shooting up with tracks on their arms and it's much more addictive and much more dangerous. so, what is the point of this full-page advertisement and what's the goal here? >> well, laura, i mean the real point was to show that first of all, in colorado and

washington, you know, those ballot issues, won with overwhelming majority, a 5% in each state saying it's time to legally regulate marijuana like alcohol rather than continuing with the failed prohibitionist policy. those votes were not pro-pot votes. most of the people voted for those initiatives don't smoke pot and don't want to have pot parties in the street. they want police to focus on real crimes. they don't want criminals making the money. they don't want the cops arresting a zillion people each year. they want to see the tax revenue coming from this stuff. that's what's going on. that's why half of all americans a little more now say it's time to legally regulate marijuana. i would wage half of all fox viewers feel the same way. a responsible policy in saying the drug war has gone too far with marijuana we have an opportunity to take it out of the criminal justice system and legally regulate it and control it. >> laura: we have to do an o'reilly factor poll on that to see your prediction about fox viewers is correct. but on the issue of the addictive nature of heroin

especially, cocaine as well, the carnage that those drugs leave behind and i know alcohol is terrible carnage for american families across the board, alcohol abuse. but, drug -- those drugs in particular, joe califano has written persuasively on how turning america into like one big needle park where people are, you know, are exchanging needles and got a noodle exchange program and some people aren't getting sick because they have clean needles and that's great. this leads to other problems and acceptance of drug use among younger people and people who are already at risk. what do you say to that. >> laura, i should be clear, my organization the drug policy alliance we are the leading one in the country leading to alternative to the drug war. some of our members are libertarians who think we should legalize everything. most probably do not go that far. so my organization says we should reduce the role of the criminal law and criminal justice system in this. we should try to be taking the

business out of the hands of the criminals, trying to find ways to regulate this stuff. we are north saying treat heroin or cocaine like alcohol and tobacco. i mean, look, look at it this way also, tobacco, even heroin addicts say tobacco is the drug there is might reduce the number of smokers. we create a vast black market. we would have tobacco traffic. we would have multihundred billion-dollar. we would be filling the prisons with tobacco violators. we would still have tens of millions of americans smoking. the argument is to say to the extent we can treat the issues around heroin and methamphetamine public health issues. serious about treating addiction not through the criminal justice system but through the public health system that's a good idea. look at what portugal has done in the last 11 years they said we are not locking up anybody anymore for simple possession of a small amount of a drug if they are not behind the wheel of a car. what's happened in portugal? no increase in drug use but they have reduced arrest, reduced crime, reduced aides,

reduced overdoses. >> laura: the war on drugs to many people have been a big failure a big waste of money the portugal example might not be all that persuasive to people. i don't know if america wants to be portugal. >> portugal. >> laura: america is not portugal for a lot of reasons. i love the portuguese. >> the policies still make sense. fact of the nature is they are doing better works there better than what works here. >> laura: we need to change the way we handle this issue no doubt about it great to he sue. >> thank you very much. >> laura: if you are in need of great last-minute christmas gifts check out bill o'reilly.com. if you sign up for the web site's premium membership you get one of bill's best selling books totally free. the tickets for the bolder fresher tour starring bill and dennis miller make great christmas gifts. and west bury new york on june 1st. details on bill o'reilly.com. and don't forget my new radio

show starts on january 2nd, so check out my web site. up nebletion the factor visited the set of the five last night and of course there were fireworks. we'll be right back. 60 seconds.

in the back of the book segment, o'reilly's pursuit of freedom and justice for corporal john hammer took him to the set of the five yesterday. the discussion got heated and that exchange about whether the obama administration was doing enough to help free hammer might have been the tipping point in the case. roll the tape. >> we have a scientist in jail in pakistan for 30 years and this is the guy that helped us get bin laden. what has president obama done about that? nothing. >> all right. >> that is not right. >> what has he done? >> gone to the isi and tried to get them out. >> who went to the isi? >> i assume the cia and some other people. >> you assume a lot.

>> you are the one assuming something. you are saying that. >> i'm a fact based guy. have we seen hillary clinton say anything publicly or the president say anything publicly? no! >> that is the fact. >> do you think saying something publicly -- >> correct, that's leadership. >> leadership when it comes to pakistan where we are very, very difficult shape in that country you don't try to make -- >> the leadership is not saying anything and allowing the people to assume we are doing something while two individuals rot in prison. >> you are assuming. >> that is bob beckel leadership. >> not going to let you get away with that. you are assuming on the other side they are not doing anything. >> i want leadership. want clarity. we are not getting it. you are assuming they are doing something. fine. that is not a fact. the fact is no clarity and no public statements. two guys rotting in prison who shouldn't be. that is the fact, jack. >> you are assuming, jack, it's bob, you are assuming that means that is a good way to get these guys out is to go public.

>> one guy in there for no reason since august and the other guy in there for almost a year. neither should be in prison and you are assuming they are doing the right thing. i know people believe in santa claus but here he is. >> all right, fine. >> we spent a lot of time on the show discussing current events. we hash out political and cultural differences and sometimes things get pretty heated especially when talking about things like corporal hammer or budget battles or benghazi or gun control. this christmas millions of americans are anxious and hurting financially and many of us are worried about the country we are leaving to our children, whether it willle be the same country we grew up in. this is the season to take a longer look at things. remember that our countrymen endured far worse. the revolutionary war. civil war. pearl harbor. civil rights movement. our country came through each struggle stronger.